Plunging devices for removing obstructions from piping and toilets (plungers and the like) are fairly well known and there are several known types of plunging devices currently available. While numerous plunging devices exist, most currently lay within one of three categories. The three categories of plunging devices are: traditional plunger-type devices comprising suction cups (air/water reciprocators), splash shield plunging devices, and snake-type plunging devices.
Traditional plunging devices generally comprise malleable rubber cups, suction cups and/or accordion-like structures that fit about or proximate a drain threshold or toilet drain orifice; such plunging devices typically utilize contained amounts of reciprocating air and water to remove an obstruction. A problem associated with traditional plunging devices, however, is that during operations they typically do not allow liquids to pass into a pipe being plunged and they are unsanitary. Indeed, when used such devices typically create splash, which may be contaminated with fecal matter that can contaminate an area proximate a toilet or drain being plunged. In attempts to address splash problems, individuals have developed plunging devices comprising splash shields. As may be imagined, such plunging devices typically include a shielding device for preventing splash from contaminating surrounding areas. Many cover a toilet opening or the like. While splash shield plunging devices are generally effective for their intended purpose, they do not function to prevent and/or minimize the initial formation of splash. Finally, snake-like plunging devices generally include flexible probing members that may be inserted into a drain to directly contact a blockage and remove it from the drain. Hence, many snake-like plunging devices include barbed end portions or the like for securing the matter causing the blockage and removing it from the pipe. While these types of plunging device are satisfactory for their intended purpose, they too, tend to be unsanitary as they can produce splash. Additionally, contaminants typically adhere to such devices, especially those comprising barbed end portions.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,779,202 to Alldredge discloses a plunger with a head fabricated from a resilient material that includes a convex distal end. In one embodiment, the head also includes a plurality of alternating grooves and lobes that extend radially to the outer edge of the head. The stated purpose of the grooves is to create gaps that “allow each lobe to be flexed in directions both axially and radially of the head, suited when fitted into the passage 20 (toilet drain pipe) to achieve a head sealing or piston fit within the bowl passage, even should the head be axially misaligned with the passage. The convex nose surface 76 provides for easy initial head entry into the bowl passage.” (Alldredge, col. 4, lines 25-31.) However, the sealing fit created by the head in Alldredge creates splash when the head is moved in and out of the toilet passage and the radial orientation of the lobes enables waste material to be trapped in the gaps between the individual lobes.
Thus, there exists a longfelt need for a more sanitary plunging device that prevents and/or minimizes the formation of splash.